With $404.25 million as of yesterday, Captain Marvel has officially passed Spider-Man. The Sam Raimi flick earned $403.7 million in 2002. Yes, that would translate into around $627 million in 2019 ticket prices, but a heck of a lot more people went to the movies just to go to the movies back then. You didn't have the overwhelming at-home entertainment options that you do today, nor do you have the presumption that a given mega-movie will be available either priced-to-rent on VOD or outright free via Hulu, Netflix or Amazon within six months of theatrical release. That said, Captain Marvel is now the second-biggest-grossing superhero non-sequel/origin story of all time, behind only Wonder Woman and Black Panther.

Marvel scoring two mega-hit origin story/character intro movies essentially in a row is promising for their Phase Four (and beyond) future. Whether Eternals or Shang-Chi can scale such heights, the $677 million earned by Doctor Strange may be close to the "bottom" or at least the proverbial "new normal" for MCU intro flicks. And if part of the reason Captain Marvel and Black Panther caught fire was due to the whole #representationmatters thing, well, that's doubly encouraging for a studio at least paying some attention to that idea. Going forward, movies for/from/about superheroes who aren't white guys named Chris will be an essential component for Marvel to remain relevant now that the superhero movie is no longer in-and-of-itself special.

Gal Gadot in 'Wonder Woman'

Warner Bros.

If audiences now primarily show up in theaters to support characters they like (be it Venom or Freddie Mercury), then they'll also show up to support a brand they like (be it Marvel or Illumination) when that brand showcases a new hero who represents a demographic not used to seeing themselves as the prime hero (or, yes, the prime villain). As crude as it may be to say that "Asians will show up for the new Asian MCU superhero," or "LGBTQIA viewers will show up for a gay MCU superhero," that's a positive result. I wish they showed for other movies beyond the mega-franchises and DC/MCU superhero flicks too, but I digress. Besides, Wonder Woman > Tomb Raider.

The sky-high performances of Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel show yet again that audiences will show up for a brand they like in a genre they like despite or because the lead hero is a woman. When adjusted for inflation, Captain Marvel is still domestically the biggest origin story superhero flick behind Wonder Woman ($412.5 million in 2017/$416 million adjusted), Superman ($134 million in 1978/$519 million adjusted), Batman ($251 million in 1989/$568 million adjusted), Spider-Man and Black Panther ($700 million in 2018). And with $1.095 billion worldwide (and counting), it's already the fourth biggest solo superhero movie, behind only Aquaman ($1.147 billion in 2018), Iron Man 3 ($1.215 billion in 2013) and Black Panther ($1.346 billion in 2018).

'Shazam!'

Warner Bros.

Meanwhile, as it awaits its post-Avengers: Endgame fate, Shazam! has earned a solid $125 million in North America alone. The DC Films flick, which cost just $90 million, has already outgrossed its relative comparisons (every Conjuring movie except the first Conjuring and Rampage) in North America. And it'll pass Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One ($137 million) soon enough. No, the film isn't getting anywhere near $500 million global, but it also was a lot cheaper than the likes of Ready Player One ($175 million), Kong: Skull Island ($180 million) and The Meg ($130 million). It should end its global run with just over $400 million, which will be just over/under Walt Disney's $170 million Tron: Legacy and Fox's $170 million Alita: Battle Angel.

Again, it's not a super smash, but at that budget, future MTV Movie/TV Awards host Zachary Levi's superhero flick didn't have to be. Its biggest accomplishment was showing that a B (or C?) level DC Comics hero could pull in decent business, as well as showing that a DC Films solo superhero film was now more likely to be "very good" as opposed to "not very good." Honestly, I'd argue the slightly smaller-than-hoped total (specifically after the $57 million debut weekend) is mostly due to China not caring much for the movie. That somewhat surprised me considering its unapologetic fantasy elements, but perhaps the film's "found family" themes clashed with more conventional family = heritage thinking (think Coco).

Better to soar in North America than soar in China, since WB only gets 25% of the grosses in China. However, more even that last year's slate, the DC Films movies on schedule (Shazam! and Joker in October) are probably their least important "big" movies for Warner Bros. in 2019. The Dream Factory's year will be decided by (the allegedly quite good) Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (am seeing it next week with both older kids in tow), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (both of my older kids want to see that one too)and It: Chapter 2 (uh... yeah, they don't want to see the scary clown movie)far more than by the respective fates of the two lower-budget DC Films flicks.